Mike Piazza, who is returning as a coach for Team Italy in the World Baseball Classic next spring, was the featured guest of honor at the Italian American Baseball Family Launch and Dinner at Carmine's in Brooklyn.

With the Winter Meetings in the books, the Mets will now attempt to Jay Bruce or another outfielder, and they’ll try to add relief pitching on short-term deals, ESPN’s Adam Rubin tweets. Earlier this week, the Mets reportedly were interested in a Curtis Granderson / Brad Brach deal with the Orioles that would have addressed both needs, but that trade seems unlikely.

When the Mets signed outfielder Yoenis Cespedes -- their top offseason priority -- last week, general manager Sandy Alderson noted that the speed with which he completed that deal could slow other pursuits. Rather than rush into a trade of Jay Bruce, for example, Alderson would have the luxury of taking things slowly.

It’s well known that the Mets would like to make a trade, particularly a trade involving Jay Bruce, since the team currently has an abundance of outfielders. But the Mets are adamant that they receive a player in return who will help them, rather than just a fringe prospect and relief from Bruce’s 2017 salary, Newsday’s Marc Carig writes. “It does put you in a different situation, and it affects other clubs’ expectations and it affects our expectations,&rd

If the Mets' offense is to improve from last season, general manager Sandy Alderson said, it is going to have to be from within. The Mets may go the rest of the winter without adding another big league hitter, even on the bench. So much of the burden will fall to those who did not produce this past season. Chief among that group is catcher Travis d'Arnaud, a former blue-chip prospect who hit just .247 with a .629 OPS in 75 games.

Entering the Winter Meetings this week, the Mets internally estimated their 2017 payroll at around $150 million. That's a bit of a jump for a team that only recently eclipsed the nine-figure threshold, dipping below $80 million for a time earlier this decade.

Zack Wheeler said his right arm is as healthy as it's been since undergoing Tommy John and flexor tendon surgery in March 2015, fueling the likelihood he'll pitch again for the Mets this spring. The only question is where.

When the Mets decided to ship Tim Tebow out to the Arizona Fall League in October, they did so fully believing he was "overmatched" -- general manager Sandy Alderson's word -- by the competition there. But the Mets sent him anyway because they believed if Tebow were to succeed at age 29, his crash course in baseball would need to include as many actual games as possible.

Over the span of a single week in November, Terry Collins lost a pair of friends he had known since grammar school. As he mourned them, Collins, 67, got to thinking. He wondered about his own future. He considered the rest of his life.

The Mets inquired wih the Royals about closer Wade Davis, reports SNY’s Andy Martino (on Twitter), but he also notes that it’s hard to see the two sides lining up on a deal given the fact that Davis will command a $10MM salary next season and would also require the Mets to surrender with upper-echelon prospects. Were Davis controlled for multiple years, perhaps it’d be more appealing to the Mets, but the Kansas City relief ace is set to hit the open market next winter.

The Mets are interested in acquiring Orioles reliever Brad Brach, but a deal that would send outfielder Curtis Granderson to Baltimore is unlikely, writes Roch Kubatko of MASNsports. One major roadblock involves finances: The Mets don’t want to eat any of Granderson’s $15MM salary for 2017, while the Orioles aren’t eager to add payroll unless it’s allocated to free agent outfielder/first baseman Mark Trumbo. It doesn’t appear that the O’s are remotely close to

The Blue Jays continue to have interest in acquiring outfielder Jay Bruce from the Mets, but they’re “offering little,” relays FanRag’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link). Toronto nearly acquired Bruce from Cincinnati last offseason, but the deal fell apart and he went on to hit .250/.309/.506 with 33 home runs in 589 plate appearances with the Reds and Mets. New York is now likely to move Bruce, who will make $13MM next season in the final year of his contract.

As the first day of the Winter Meetings drew to a close, the Mets reached something of an impasse regarding their desire to trade an outfielder. After spending Monday talking to the Orioles and other teams about potential deals, the Mets came away believing clubs are more interested in Curtis Granderson than Jay Bruce.

The Mets are interested in swinging a deal for Orioles right-hander Brad Brach, tweets ESPN’s Buster Olney. The Mets have been rumored to be seeking right-handed help in the ’pen but aren’t pursuing top-tier free agents. Brach would represent an affordable setup option, but with two years of club control and a 2.39 ERA over his past 158 1/3 innings, Brach should come with a high asking price. The Orioles have been linked to Mets outfielders Jay Bruce and Curti

Virtually every team in baseball is looking for bullpen help, and here’s the latest in relief pitching buzz…
The Yankees are pursuing Aroldis Chapman and will “compete to a certain extent” for his services, GM Brian Cashman told media, including MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch (Twitter links). The club is also talking to Kenley Jansen and looking at trade opportunities, so the Yankees are clearly flexible in their search for back-end relief help if Chapman’s biddi